Taxoids are compounds derived from taxol (also referred to as paclitaxel), an isolated natural product and an important anticancer drug. Taxoids stabilize microtubules during mitosis to treat patients with different kinds of cancer (e.g. ovarian cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer).
Cabazitaxel is a semi-synthetic derivative of a natural taxoid 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB)) with potential anti-neoplastic activity. Cabazitaxel binds to and stabilizes tubulin, resulting in the inhibition of microtubule depolymerization and cell division, cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase, and the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation. Unlike other taxane compounds, this agent is a poor substrate for the membrane-associated, multidrug resistance, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux pump and may be useful for treating multidrug-resistant tumors. In addition, cabazitaxel penetrates the blood-brain barrier.
Cabazitaxel was developed by Sanofi-Aventis and was approved by FDA in 2010. JEVTANA® (cabazitaxel injection) is a microtubule inhibitor indicated in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing treatment regimen.
The systematic (IUPAC) name of cabazitaxel is (1S,2S,3R,4S,7R,9S,10S,12R,15S)-4-(acetyloxy)-15-{[(2R,3S)-3-{[(tert-butoxy)carbonyl]amino}-2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropanoyl]oxy}-1-hydroxy-9,12-dimethoxy-10,14,17,17-tetramethyl-11-oxo-6-oxatetracyclo[11.3.1.03,10.04,7]heptadec-13-en-2-yl benzoate. Its chemical structure is shown below.
